This
period is guaranteed to be an intense one, involving preparation for voting
itself, along with a variety of campaign issues. If the EMB has regulatory
responsibilities in relation to the media, these will also come to the fore
during this phase.
For
the media themselves, the start of the campaign period is when election
coverage really takes off. A
pre-organized EMB Media Relations Department will be better equipped to cope
with the sudden media interest, than one that still has loose ends. Similarly, if an EMB is responsible for
monitoring the media, it is recommended that all legal frameworks and an
effective monitoring system are established well before the campaign period
begins By this stage the fundamental regulatory questions will already have
been answered, with the media and contestants clearly understanding their roles
and responsibilities:
- What laws or regulations govern media coverage of the
campaign?
- Who is responsible for implementing these?
- What are the regulations governing direct access
broadcasting?
- What are the regulations governing paid political
advertising?
- What are the policies on hate speech and defamation,
and any miscellaneous provisions on issues such as news blackouts and
opinion polls?
- What is the mechanism if any member of the public, a
political party or the media themselves has a complaint?
At
this point the process of accreditation of journalists, if there is one, is
also started.
A
Media Relations Department will also be involved in numerous other
communication activities. They will be
holding press conferences, releasing press releases and statements, holding
media tours and so forth, in order to provide media with accurate and
comprehensive information about the operations and decisions of the EMB, as
well as progress of the election in general. Spokespersons and media relations
staff members will be fielding questions on a wide variety of topics such as:
- Complaints
mechanisms and decisions;
- Polling
station preparation;
- Voter
education and voter information preparation;
- General
logistics (such as transportation of ballots, or sensitive material);
In many cases, media
relations staff members will need to know how to direct media to relevant
authorized bodies for various issues.
For example, if an electoral complaints body is separate from an EMB,
the Media Relations Department will direct media to that body for issues concerning
complaints. This might also be true in
instances where there is an established candidate vetting process by a third
party.
